A free, ticketed, event is happening on 27th July 2025 to celebrate the timeless connection between Kate Bush and Emily Brontë on their shared birthday with a ‘Mass Wuther’ dance at Penistone Hill in Howarth [sic] (the moors that inspired Wuthering Heights) in conjunction with the Brontë Parsonage musuem [sic] and as part of Bradford 2025 City of Culture.The event will include a live reading from the novel performed by local writer and broadcaster Kate Fox, a series of practice sessions to perfect the iconic dance together in the open field, and an exclusive performance by Sarah-Louise Young – the acclaimed artist behind An Evening Without Kate Bush who will be joining in with the dancing and bringing Kate Bush’s greatest hits to life. The event will be filmed by the BBC.Following the celebration on the moors, they’ll be heading to Parson’s Field at the Brontë Parsonage Museum for a communal picnic.This event supports two causes; Women’s Aid, who help women affected by the kind of abuse depicted in Emily Bronte’s novel. A minimum of £427 million is needed to be invested per year to fund specialist domestic abuse services for women and their children across England (Women’s Aid, 2023), and raising money for Women’s Aid enables them to help meet this important goal. And secondly, Stronger Together to Stop Calderdale Windfarm, a local campaign aiming to preserve Top Withens and the surrounding moors from ecological destruction by encouraging windfarm development in less ecologically significant areas.The event sold out 6 hours after releasing the free tickets. (Sean)
Eight beauty spots across Bradford district have been designated as new nature reserves in a bid to boost wildlife and improve access to green spaces.Sites in Keighley, Queensbury, Ilkley and Shipley have been selected as part of Bradford Council's bid for residents to benefit from spending time in nature.The authority worked with friends of groups across the district, Natural England and Wharfedale Naturalists trustee Steve Parkes to secure designation for the sites.Paul Duncan, deputy director for Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire at Natural England, said: "Creating these new local nature reserves is another step along the road of enhancing the biodiversity of Bradford."He said the project would help make the city a "bigger, better and more joined up place for wildlife to thrive"."These reserves will increase opportunities for leisure, recreation, and improved access to vital green spaces," Mr Duncan said. [...]Carolyn Bowe, chair of the Friends of Littlemoor Park, said the designation would mean the group could "bring in funding and people to help us do even more".It follows the announcement that a new nature reserve on the landscape that inspired the Brontë sisters would be created in Bradford.The Bradford Pennine Gateway is the first of its type in the county and is part of the King's Series of 25 National Nature Reserves being developed across the country. (Adam Laver)
From Brontë to Ishiguro: The Dystopian Evolution of the Boarding School Motif
Somaye SharifyJournal of Humanistic and Social Studies · June 2025DOI: 10.56177/jhss.1.16.2025.art.3
The present study proposes to examine the setting in Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go as an important motif that invites comparisons to classic works while foregrounding the novel’s dystopian elements. By engaging with Foucault’s discursive ideas, this study will argue that Never Let Me Go transforms the traditional motif of boarding school as seen in such Victorian bildungsromans as Jane Eyre and David Copperfield into a biopolitical institution of care and control. It will examine the subject positions made available by this institution as well as the roles and activities that characters can adopt for themselves or assign to others. As this essay will demonstrate, these discursive positions are sustained through a medical gaze that reduces each character from an entity to a set of organs to be observed, examined, and labeled. The findings of this study suggest that Never Let Me Go could be interpreted as an allegorical tale of how modern institutions use discourses to normalize violence and erase individual agency under the pretext of progress and survival imperatives.
A 30 minute bus ride from Bradford city centre, costing £2.50, will get you to Thornton, a scenic little town which was once home to some of Yorkshire's most famous natives. The Brontë sisters were born in the town, and their former home is now a museum in the town. [...]After a quick drink, I decided to look around the town a little more after spending a fair amount of my time on the outskirts exploring the viaduct. Just off of Market Street, I ran into the home of the Brontë sisters, now a museum.Sadly it was closed and is only open on weekends, so if you're planning a visit then Saturday and Sunday would be perfect. The town is quite clearly proud of its literary heritage, with displays honouring the Brontës in shop windows and advertised on libraries across the town. (Sebastian McCormick)
The [book] that made you want to become an author: Probably Jane Eyre which I read at least ten times. (Elise Dumpleton)
Cinema and literature have walked hand-in-hand since filmmaking was invented. There are many books that have been adapted many times, but are still considered impossible to accurately translate to the screen. Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights is a famously "unfilmable" novel, even though the results of those who tried have been interesting. (Arantxa Pellme)
by Emily BrontëTranslation of the original: Kveta MaryskovaTheatrical adaptation: Jan Mikulasek, Marta LjubkovaTreatment: Jakub Šmíd, Klara ŠpickováDirected by: Jakub SmidDramaturgy: Klara SpickovaMusic: David HlavacLighting design: Karel SimekWith: Matyas Darnady, Klara Kuchinkova, Libor Stach, Eliska Vocelova, Vladimir Pokorny, Zuzana Scerbova, Zdenek Hruska, Nicole Tisot, Peter Urban, Matthias GreifJune 14, 19, 21.20hSeptember 19, 21.20hOctober 19. 30,
21.20hDJTK (Divadlo Josefa Kajetána Tyla, Smetanovy sady 16, 301 00 Plzeň-Plzeň 3, Czechia)Hate is unjust. Love is even more so. The author died shortly after the publication of her only novel, which she signed with a male pseudonym in 1847.She created one of the most important works of English literature, but she did not live to see recognition. The characters in the moving story are connected not only by blood, but also by a place where nature speaks as powerfully as the spirits of ancient sins. The stormy elements also toss the unique concept of good and evil, with which Emily Brontë so irritated contemporary society. The ballad-like horror work Wuthering Heights does not psychologically compete with the greatness of ancient dramas. It tells the story of people who dedicate their lives to destructive desire. The only woman who can stop the dark hero on his path of revenge marries his rival. The obsession that exceeds the temporary boundaries of human existence and the birth of evil are the driving dramatic force of the characters. Their story has rightfully inspired both filmmakers and world theater stages.
Long before Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre, the Brontë siblings created whole fantasy kingdoms, crafted in childhood from scraps of paper and wild imaginations. These early dreamscapes laid the foundations for the emotional intensity and Gothic power of their later work. Our project Wandering Imaginations revisits these lesser-known beginnings, highlighting the Brontës’ childhood in Bradford.Among their imaginary worlds was Angria, a fantastical kingdom that mapped onto the West African coast. Nearly 200 years later, we have invited four emerging writers – two from the North of England, two from Ghana – to create new stories, inspired by Angria but rooted in their own cultural landscapes.In their own ways, Dunbar and the Brontës both used fiction to escape, confront and reimagine the worlds they inhabited. Their writing prompts us to ask again: Whose stories matter? Whose voices do we amplify? That spirit of imagination lives on in Bradford’s communities – young people dreaming up new worlds, finding their voice, and daring to tell stories that have not yet been told.
The 2009 miniseries Wuthering Heights is one of many adaptations of the classic 1847 novel by Emily Brontë. Hardy plays the leading role of Heathcliff, who is raised by the wealthy Earnshaw family. Later in life, he launches a vendetta against them. Heathcliff also falls in love with Cathy, and their romance becomes a danger for everybody around them. Charlotte Riley plays Cathy, Hardy’s now real-life wife, so it’s no surprise that the pair have very believable chemistry. (Alyssa De Leo)
Laguna Art Museum presents Carole Caroompas: Heathcliff and the Femme Fatale Go on Tour, an expressive exhibition showcasing a series of works created between 1997 and 2001 by the late feminist artist Carole Caroompas. The exhibition, guest curated by Rochelle Steiner, will be on view through Sunday, July 13, and offers an exploration of Caroompas’ most consistent theme: gender and power relations. This is seen here through her recasting of Heathcliff from Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights and other personae, including some stylized in her self-image.
Its Wuthering Heights-esque wilderness, serenely captured by the cinematographer Robbie Ryan conjures up an almost otherworldly look. (Chi-Yun Shin)
No en vano Lockhart se inspiró en las dinámicas familiares viciadas de El rey Lear o el amor prohibido y dañino de Cumbres borrascosas para este relato. Éramos mentirosos es más compleja de lo que aparenta: tiene amor, amistad y retazos de ficción 'coming-of-age', pero también profundiza en los trauma y la salud mental, en el clasismo o el racismo, en los secretos y los dramas familiar. (Janire Zurbano) (Translation)
The Japan Brontë Society posts about the recent Brontë Day Public Lecture held at Waseda University on June 7th with 91 attendees, featuring two presentations: one on Charlotte Brontë's early works and another on Balthus's illustrations for "Wuthering Heights." The event was considered highly successful and educational for Brontë literature enthusiasts and students. Claire Fenby-Warren publishes on YouTube a video taking the viewers on a journey through the Brontë sisters' early life, starting at their birthplace in Thornton and ending at the famous Haworth Parsonage.
Sat 14 Jun, 10:00amThe Brontë Space at the Old School RoomJoin us for a relaxing day of meditation, yoga and creativity in the inspiring and picturesque Brontë village of Haworth.Led by yoga teacher, author, and poet Emma Conally-Barklem, this day is suitable for all abilities, with no writing, meditation or yoga experience required – just a willingness to join in!Here’s what you can look forward to:9:45am Doors open10am Welcome. Guided walking meditation in Parson’s Field, next to the Parsonage11am A talk from Emma: Hope and the Brontës12pm Lunch break (you’re welcome to bring your own lunch or join us at Cobbles & Clay café in Haworth)1pm ‘Pots of Hope’ journalling task2pm Rest and restorative yoga session with readings3pm Finish
While the 2005 Hollywood hit “Pride & Prejudice” includes some fine performances and stunning cinematography, it has one major flaw. It feels like Jane Austen when the scenes are indoors and Emily Brontë (“Wuthering Heights”) when the drama is outdoors. (Terry Mattingly)
Cuando Jane Eyre vio la luz en 1847, firmada bajo el seudónimo masculino “Currer Bell”, pocos podían imaginar el impacto que esta novela tendría en la literatura universal. Su autora, Charlotte Brontë, rompió moldes al crear a una protagonista femenina profundamente humana, independiente, rebelde y moralmente íntegra, en una época donde las mujeres eran relegadas al papel de esposas dóciles o simples figuras decorativas.Más de 175 años después, Jane Eyre sigue siendo una obra que emociona, inspira y provoca reflexión, no solo por su rica narrativa y estilo gótico, sino por los dilemas que plantea: la lucha por la autonomía, la integridad moral, el amor sin renuncia personal y la búsqueda de justicia social. (Claudia Anaya) (Translation)
“allowing Her To Tell Her Story”: Wide Sargasso Sea And The Voice Of Bertha Masonby Bouzid Nadjet
مجلة قبس للدراسات الإنسانية والاجتماعية (Qabas Journal for Humanities and Social Studies) Volume 9, Numéro 1, Pages 1666-1679 (2025)In Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys writes back to one of the colonial classics, Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. As a postcolonial endeavour, Wide Sargasso Sea, tells the story differently, and uses dialogism to revise the story including the voiceless characters as main actors in the plot. In this respect, this paper examines how Rhys unfolds the story using three different narrators unlike the first person narrator of Jane Eyre through highlighting the concept of dialogism as developed by Bakhtin. As such, dialogue, in this postcolonial text, highlights the author’s attempt to defy the imperial practice of denying the colonized subjects a voice in the story. Bertha Mason, the Creole character who is locked up in the attic, does not have any dialogue in Brontë’s novel. Instead, she is represented as a beastly unhuman being who lacks a language, growls like animals, and is thus unable of any human-like dialogue practice. Recent literature on Rhys’s work have solely focused on the feminist postcolonial representation of a Creole marginalized woman who is denied a voice to tell her story. Gayatri C. Spivac's Can the Subaltern Speak? is among the most famous texts in the field. However, the use of dialogue in Rhys' novel has not received the due attention it deserves. As such, the present paper seeks to spotlight on the use of dialogue in the postcolonial novel of Wide Sargasso Sea as a means to fight imperialism as represented in Brontë’s Jane Eyre.
Netflix's period drama Emily is a part-fictional look into the life of Emily Bronte, the author of the literary classic Wuthering Heights, and it has received widespread acclaimThe 2022 British biographical period drama Emily provides a semi-fictional insight into the life of literary legend Emily Brontë.Emma Mackey portrays the revered author in the film, which was both written and directed by Frances O'Connor in her first directorial venture. The film imagines a romantic liaison between the English novelist and a clergyman named William Weightman.Boasting an impressive cast including Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Fionn Whitehead, Amelia Gething, Alexandra Dowling, Gemma Jones, and Adrian Dunbar, Emily premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.Available for viewing on Netflix, the film has garnered Emma Mackey the accolade of 2023 BAFTA Rising Star for her portrayal of the title character. In a 2023 interview with Harper's Bazaar, Emma said: "If you wanna watch a documentary about the Brontës, there are loads and they're great. But this is a story and an interpretation. You just kind of have to roll with it." (Parul Sharma)
I Walked With a ZombieJacques Tourneur, 1943Producer Val Lewton’s 1940s low-budget films - often made in conjunction with the director Jacques Tourneur - are a high point in horror cinema - literate, beautifully crafted nightmare movies that both shock and seduce. Despite the come-on of the title this one is a seduction; a dreamy, eerie reinvention of Jane Eyre that weaves voodoo lore into the story. It may be the most beautiful zombie movie; admittedly there isn’t a lot of competition. (Teddy Jamieson)
1. “Wuthering Heights” by Kate BushKate Bush’s 1978 hit, “Wuthering Heights,” is directly inspired by Emily Brontë’s classic novel of the same name. The song takes on the voice of Catherine Earnshaw, haunting her lover Heathcliff from beyond the grave.Bush was only 18 when she wrote the song, but her theatrical delivery and eerie falsetto captured the wild, gothic energy of the novel. “Wuthering Heights” reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart, making Bush the first female artist to achieve a UK number one with a self-written song.Literature fans have praised her for capturing the emotional turbulence and supernatural tone of Brontë's story, a feat not often achieved in pop music. The song’s lyrics are dotted with direct references to the book, including iconic lines like “Heathcliff, it’s me, Cathy, I’ve come home.” For many, this song was their first introduction to classic literature through music. (Luca von Burkersroda)
Grace MattinglyUndergraduate Thesis, The University of MississippiThis thesis is a literary analysis of the use of gardens and garden imagery in Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, and Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights to subvert Victorian novel conventions. This work is part of the larger conversation of how female authors in the literary canon express dissatisfaction with or resistance to Victorian social mores. This thesis is divided into three chapters, each focusing on one novel, and it primarily evaluates how gardens are employed by the Brontës to challenge plot and genre conventions. The work examines concerns surrounding the Victorian marriage institution, female autonomy, and imperialism.
With Em in the kitchen, that left the two of us. After an awkward several seconds, I said, "So your daughter says you write poetry.""Oh, here and there," she said. "I'm much more of a reader than a writer.""Yeah? What's your favorite book?""Oh goodness, I have so many. I've been rereading Jane Eyre. That's one of my favorites. Masterpiece Theatre has been running a marvelous series based on the book. I don't suppose you've seen it.""No, but my mother's been watching it," I told her. Which was a lie.For Mom, must-see TV on Sunday nights was Desperate Housewives.
Jane Eyre (2011)What it’s about: The young governess Jane Eyre (Mia Wasikowska) takes a job under the watchful, brooding eye of Mr. Rochester (Michael Fassbender), whose waistcoat is big and full of secrets. A muted, pastel color palette provides the perfect backdrop for their bad romance to rupture and flourish.Why it’s perfect for rainy spring Sunday afternoons: Jane and Mr. Rochester are melancholy for various reasons, mirroring your mood as you contemplate the Excel sheet awaiting you tomorrow morning. As a bonus, this is set in the mid-19th century, making you nostalgic for a time period in which you never lived. The realization that you are trapped in this dull, waistcoat-free present may make you sip your cappuccino all the more wistfully. (Evan E. Lambert)
by S.F. TaylorSouthfield Writers´ISBN: 978-1838251765August 2024Anne Brontë is the sister who still stands in the shadow of Charlotte and Emily. She deserves more than that neglected state dictates and this book brings her to the fore. It examines her life in the context of the Victorian times in which she lived and the role it played in her suppression.It also brings into prominence the role of Scarborough in her working life, her health and her writing. Its importance cannot be underestimated, not least when it was the place she chose to die after battling an illness for which there was no cure.Anne led the way as a pioneering writer of the feminist novel but suffered the consequences when society, and her own sister, were not ready. Now we are ready and will speak out in support until her genius is fully recognised.Anne Brontë died too young, at twenty-nine years of age, when she still had much good todo in the world.
A contributor to The Assam Tribune thinks that,Earth & Sky is an immersive soundwalk guiding people through the moorland of Penistone Hill Country Park in West Yorkshire and features new pieces from three leading contemporary composers – Caterina Barbieri, Nyokabi Kariũki and Gwen Siôn – with local field recordings compiled by sound artist Sarah Keirle-Dos Santos, and classical music from 19th century Bradford-born composer Frederick Delius recorded by the Orchestra of Opera North. There is also a spoken word element with poetic works from Bradford writer Nabeelah Hafeez. The walk begins in Haworth and uses GPS technology to trigger the musical pieces as people follow the recommended route.The artists were invited by Opera North to respond to the dramatic landscape of the moors above Haworth, a landscape which was such an inspiration to the Brontë sisters. In preparation, the creative team went to visit the site. “We went to have a look around and to think about the kind of musical styles that would be interesting to work with in the landscape,” says producer Liv McCafferty who led the project for Opera North. “We knew we wanted to also include work by Delius so we had a think about who would provide an interesting international response to that. All the composers involved work in electronic music with classical influences which provides an interesting viewpoint.”It is a nice link to the Brontës that all three are female composers. “That was coincidental,” says McCafferty. “We thought of those artists first and foremost for what they do, but they were all pleased about making that connection with the Brontës.” Following the commission, the artists were then taken to explore the moorland. “They came over in early September last year and we went to visit the site with them at various times,” says McCafferty. “We went at dawn and dusk and at other times so that they could get the feel of different moods and sounds.” Having spent time exploring, each composer selected a particular area that they would link their work to.Italian composer Barbieri, who is artistic director for music at Venice Biennale, has composed a site-specific work located at the cascade of rocks on the outer perimeter of Penistone Hill. The piece, entitled It was the Limit of my Dream, features electronics, chromatic vocal harmonies, sung by members of the Chorus of Opera North, and extended brass drones played by the Orchestral of Opera North.Multidisciplinary Welsh artist Siôn took inspiration from the natural and industrial elements she discovered within the landscape. “I chose this spot because I was really interested in the wall of rock and the different lives it’s had over time,” she says. “I was interested in it being the site of a disused quarry and how you get the sense of how human interventions have shaped the landscape.” Her composition combines electronics and acoustic instrumentation, environmental and vocal recordings including fragments from literary texts written about the moorland.Kenyan composer Kariũki’s work is inspired by the flora and fauna of Penistone Hill and also references her East African heritage. She has experimented with the idea of a butterfly flitting over the landscape, using muttered voice and choral styles. The butterfly invites the listener to join her in exploring the terrain. “I wrote the piece in the hope that listeners are transported into their own little fantasy world,” says Kariũki. “Maybe one that takes place between the soft flutters of butterflies’ wings.”Threaded throughout the soundwalk are recordings made by sound artist Keirle-Dos Santos on Penistone Hill. “Sarah’s recordings, including the dawn chorus and the wind, connect all the compositions and plays with the notion of digital versus the natural,” says McCafferty. “It is embedded in the landscape every step of the way.” Keirle-Dos Santos has also augmented two classical pieces by Delius, performed by the Orchestra of Opera North, with sounds ranging from birdsong, to rustling grass and the beating of butterfly wings.During the walk Hafeez shares three original poems which explore themes of family, place, nature and identity. “Bradford is the roots to so many stories, including my own, my parents and grandparents who first came to settle here,” she says. “My inspiration comes from these stories... Each of my poems bares these remnants, taking from old stories, memories and words, to build on something new. A reflection of the countless journeys that cross our pathways that we may never know about.”Earth & Sky is part of Wild Uplands, an open-air gallery featuring contemporary installations by national and international artists placed across Penistone Country Park, running until October 12. (Yvette Huddleston)
If Emily Brontë would have ever visited Meghalaya, she might have mistaken it for the real-life counterpart of her wild and wind-swept moors in Wuthering Heights — mysterious, romantic, and quietly powerful.In the tradition of Victorian literature, where places often carried the weight of emotion and memory, Meghalaya too, feels like a living character — not just a backdrop, but an experience that shapes those who pass through it. It is not merely a city in the hills; it’s a landscape of feeling. Calm yet spirited; distant yet deeply embracing. (Indrani Chakrabarty)
The Heath Bookshop, winner of the Independent Bookshop of the Year 2025, announce they will be staging the first Birmingham based The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever on York Road in Kings Heath on Sunday 27th July at 2pm.The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever is an event held at locations around the world where participants recreate the music video for Kate Bush’s iconic song Wuthering Heights coming together to collectively perform the dance seen in the video (red dress version!).The Birmingham Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever will be held to raise money for Birmingham-based charities Anawim – Birmingham’s Centre for Women and WE:ARE (Women’s Empowerment And Recovery Educators) Domestic Abuse Empowerment Programmes.Participants will be asked to book a ticket and donate £5. Those who prefer to watch can come along to support and donate if they can.Catherine from The Heath Bookshop said: “I am a huge Kate Bush fan and so when we opened the shop a friend beautifully upcycled a coffee table for us with a photo of Kate Bush and the pages of Charlotte Bronte’s Wuthering Heights (sic!) covering it. Last year, I attended my first The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever in Miller Park in Preston, performing the iconic dance with hundreds of other people dressed as Kate Bush!“It was a beautifully inclusive and moving event and raised a large amount of money for a charity helping women who are victims of domestic violence. I came back to Birmingham and suggested to Claire, the other owner of the shop, that we put one on in 2025 in Kings Heath to raise money for two Birmingham charities we have worked with before, Anawim and WE:ARE”.Claire from The Heath Bookshop added: “We knew this would be a great event to hold in Birmingham and especially in Kings Heath as the local community support the many arts events that happen here and always support charity events. It seemed even more fitting that we should host a dance event since our employee, Abi, is also a dancer in her spare time! Each location that hosts the event have a video to teach participants the steps. We asked Abi if she’d be happy to learn the dance and to make a video to teach people that want to take part. She happily agreed and now we’re all ready to go!”The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever events have previously taken place in locations such as Sydney, Copenhagen, Berlin, Folkestone, and Preston and typically take place in late July to coincide with Kate Bush’s birthday (30th July).Catherine continued: “One thing we do need a bit of help with is that we are looking for a donation of a stage large enough to hold a PA system and for us to be raised up to demonstrate the dance to participants on the day, if anyone is able to donate this, we would be really grateful! The event really is open to everyone, you can do as much or as little of the dance as you like and all ages, genders and abilities are welcome. You can go full Kate Bush with your costume or simply wear a bit of red as a nod to the red dress Kate wears in the video”.Jess Phillips, Birmingham Yardley MP and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls) will be opening the event with a short speech.
Critical Echoes: The Transformation of Jane Eyre Scholarship Over Time Authors
Abdulaziz Almuthaybir, Department of English Language & Literature, College of Languages & Humanities, Qassim University, Buraydah 52571, Saudi ArabiaInternational Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Translation, 8(6), 11-14.Since its 1847 publication, Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre has attracted steadily shifting critical attention. This study maps those changes by analyzing two representative scholarly articles from each of four periods—1950–1960, 1965–1975, 1980–1990, and 1995–2015—to track evolving methods and thematic priorities. Whereas earlier criticism focuses on narrative technique, language, and other formal devices, later work increasingly engages social and cultural questions, especially issues of gender and feminism. The pattern shows how Jane Eyre continually registers new theoretical currents and remains a central text in debates over women’s status in Victorian Britain and literary studies more broadly.
When I worked as a librarian and an English teacher at the International School of Port of Spain (ISPS) and the Youth Training Centre (YTC) I never had a problem getting boys to read. The books that boys loved constantly shocked me. The boys all settled comfortably into books with female protagonists and often enjoyed those books more than the girls in the class.At both ISPS and YTC, the boys’ favourite classic was Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë because of how it handled conflict and relationships. In ISPS, some boys said their favourite book for the year was Wide Sargasso Sea, the prequel to Jane Eyre, by Dominican writer Jean Rhys, because they could compare Rochester’s story with his first wife’s story. The mystery of Antoinette Rochester, hidden away in the attack in Jane Eyre, and understanding how culture affects relationships hooked them. (Debbie Jacob)
6. Wuthering Heights, 2009 (Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, 1847)I actually love Wuthering Heights. I read it for the first time when I was 16 and very quickly discovered I was an old romantic. The relationship between Cathy and Heathcliff is a passionate yet destructive one, with the characters' obsession with one another ultimately leading to their downfall.While the book is brilliant, there is a fantastic adaptation with an all-star cast featuring Tom Hardy and Charlotte Riley as Heathcliff and Cathy, Andrew Lincoln as Edgar Linton, Kevin McNally as Mr Earnshaw and Sarah Lancashire as Nelly Dean.The two-part mini series aired in 2009 and was adapted for the screen by Peter Bowker and directed by Coky Giedroyc.The chemistry between Hardy and Riley as Heathcliff and Cathy is palpable with Hardy playing the brooding, wild-eyed Heathcliff perfectly.The series has received an 84% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes with many viewers praising Hardy's acting. One person wrote: "One of Tom Hardy's best roles. He nails Heathcliff."Another wrote: "Tom Hardy is such a gifted actor. His performance is utterly beautiful in this film. He and his real-life wife, Charlotte Riley, have such great chemistry." (Millie Bull)
Stanage Edge: Austen and Bronte Guided WalkJoin Peak Walking as they celebrate the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth with a guided walk along Stanage Edge. The six-mile route will take in the stunning gritstone escarpment where Keira Knightley surveyed the wild moorland landscape as Lizzie Bennet in the 2005 film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. The walk also passes Thornfield Hall, associated with Charlotte Brontë’s masterpiece, Jane Eyre. This is set to be a wonderful half-day walk with exceptional views and rich literary history. Considered an easier route, perfect for new and experienced hill walkers.June 12-13.£35, peakwalking.com (Beth Windsor)
What the Brontës did at the Fringe - Here & There ( Pauline Vallance & Jacynth Hamill )
Sun 8 Jun 2025, 3:00PM
Drumballyroney Church, Banbridge, BT32 5EW
The show is an imagining of the Bronte Sisters coping with the chaos of the Edinburgh Fringe. It covers 3 visits - one with the three sisters when they are unknown, the second with Charlotte on her own after her devastating losses, but dealing with celebrity and the third, travelling with her new husband. It features original songs and follows the actual arc of their lives, though in a modern setting.
‘Here and There’ is a Scottish/Irish folk duo, Pauline Vallance & Jacynth Hamill
Pauline who hails from Ayrshire in Scotland with family links to Rathfriland, is a multi-talented musician - singer, harpist, flautist and songwriter. She has several CDs to her credit including "Golden Slumbers" a beautiful selection of soothing lullabies and her most recent, "The World's a Gift", a collection of her own songs - about life and those important to us. It was nominated for Scottish Album of the Year and was deemed a 'Must Listen' by Folk London.
Jacynth, originally from Coleraine, lives in Belfast and loves to tour around sharing her clear, calming voice with audiences small and large. She often adds a little dancing to proceedings!
Together they can be heard on "Red Winged Blackbird" - the final CD of "Caim", the group they previously were in. On it there's a flavour of what they do - traditional Irish and Scottish songs, covers and their own compositions.
Their gigs reflect this mix, whether concerts, folk clubs, care homes or conferences. Solo and harmony singing, lively or soothing instrumentals, story and dance - for some great craic come and enjoy "Here and There".
Q. Please tell readers about your novel, “Fifteen Wild Decembers.”Like many readers, I first discovered Emily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights” as a teenager. I was mesmerized by the wild moorland landscape she described and the equally wild characters that inhabited it.When I finished reading, I turned to the introduction and was surprised to learn that the author of this passionate, violent novel had led a seemingly uneventful life. The daughter of an Anglican clergyman, Emily lived almost all of her life in Haworth, a remote village in the southern Pennines, hundreds of miles from literary London. She had no friends outside the family and was deeply reserved, silent to the point of rudeness when forced into company. Emily never married and there is no evidence of any romantic connections before her death at the tragically young age of 30.I was intrigued right away by the disconnect. I wondered how someone of Emily’s background could write a novel which scandalized Victorian readers – a contemporaneous reviewer suggested the author should have committed suicide rather than continue! – and still has the power to shock to this day.I started writing in my early thirties, around the same time that I moved to Yorkshire. Now within driving distance of Haworth, I was able to explore the wild landscape that Emily had described for myself. And, of course, to visit the Brontë Parsonage Museum, which was once home to family. The museum is so wonderfully curated that you almost expect to find Emily and her sisters working on their novels at the original dining table, in a room which overlooks the graveyard and the church where their father, the Reverend Patrick Brontë, preached.I began to understand that Emily’s life here was far more tumultuous than I’d first thought. She and her sisters lived under the constant threat of both penury and homelessness – when their elderly, half-blind father died the parsonage would revert to the church governors, while their attempts to earn a living through teaching or governess work had ended miserably. Added to this, their brother Branwell, the only son and once the great hope of the family, had become addicted to both alcohol and laudanum after a disastrous love affair with a married woman. Visitors to the parsonage are often struck by how tiny it is. There would have been nowhere to hide from Branwell’s despair and the ensuing chaos of addiction. Emily’s home in Haworth was hardly an idyllic writing retreat and yet…I don’t recall the precise moment I decided I must write her story, but the idea must have lurked somewhere in my teenage brain and then started to evolve during those visits to Haworth.Q. The Brontës grew up in Yorkshire and you live in North Yorkshire. Was knowing the landscape of the area essential to understanding the family?It would be a tall order to write about Emily Brontë without having some familiarity with the moorland that surrounds her home in Haworth. Emily was so viscerally attached to this landscape that she suffered breakdowns almost every time she was forced to leave.After Emily’s death, Charlotte wrote: “My sister loved the moors. Flowers brighter than the rose bloomed in the blackest of the heath for her; out of a sullen hollow in a livid hillside her mind could make an Eden. She found in the bleak solitude many and dear delights; and not the least and best loved was—liberty. Liberty was the breath of Emily’s nostrils; without it, she perished.”In order to imagine my way into Emily’s mind, it was essential to walk in her footsteps, to learn this landscape – so different to the softer, more ordered countryside of the south-east of England where I grew up – for myself. I’ve spent many hours now on the moorland that rears up directly behind Emily’s parsonage home. It’s a very particular terrain: peaty, boggy, windswept, with a bleak beauty of its own: “No life higher than the grasstops, or the hearts of sheep,” as Sylvia Plath once described it. Aside from the reservoirs down in the valley, and the signposts in both English and Japanese to Top Withens, a ruined farmhouse and the alleged inspiration for Wuthering Heights, little can have changed since Emily walked here.Q. What’s something about your book that no one knows?I listened to Taylor Swift almost exclusively while editing “Fifteen Wild Decembers,” to the extent that major scenes in the book are now inextricably linked in my mind with certain songs, with entire albums.I could write about this at great length if anyone was ever interested, have a habit of telling people even if they aren’t. And don’t get me started on The Eras Tour.Q. You’re writing historical fiction, not history. Can you talk about the difference?You won’t find me deep in the archives trying to unearth new primary sources. To my mind, that’s a job best left to the historians. As a novelist, my work is to absorb and assess the information available – in the case of a family as famous as the Brontës, a great deal of research has already been carried out by people with far more expertise than me – and then to let my imagination work its way into any intriguing gaps in the narrative.For example, in the prologue of “Fifteen Wild Decembers,” we meet 24-year-old Emily on a boat to Brussels. This trip was instigated by Charlotte, ostensibly so that the two sisters could improve their teaching qualifications at a Belgian school. Charlotte’s fictionalized account of Brussels in her novel “Villette” and her extant letters give us a good idea of what this adventure meant to her. As far as I’m aware though, there is no record of Emily’s state of mind on that boat trip. Given that she loathed to be away from her Yorkshire home, and was possibly already suspicious of Charlotte’s motivations, I hazarded a guess that her mood was less than sunny.Similarly, we know exactly what the young Charlotte Brontë thought about Cowan Bridge School for Daughters of the Clergy because she reproduced it to devastating effect in “Jane Eyre,” and spoke bitterly about it for the rest of her life, but there is scant record of Emily’s presence at the school, let alone her feelings. Blanks in the historical record such as these are irresistible to a novelist! (Erik Pedersen)
The first literary festival to take place in Rathfriland will this weekend celebrate the Brontë family's connection to the area.Rath Literary Festival will feature authors, poets and music in celebration of the area's contributions to the arts, both past and present.The famous sisters' father was a clergyman in nearby Drumballyroney before moving to Yorkshire.Organiser Ada Elliot told BBC News NI he had been "perhaps been overlooked" in the telling of the Brontë family story.Patrick Brontë was born Patrick Brunty in County Down in March 1777 - St Patrick's Day - explaining his first name - and changed his surname when he moved to England.Three of his children - Charlotte, Emily and Anne - became authors, with Charlotte writing Jane Eyre and Emily writing Wuthering Heights - both gothic romances set in the north of England, with strong psychological components.Anne Brontë wrote The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, which explores themes of social duty and the place of women in the Victorian world."Although the girls are not part of Rathfriland he (Patrick) has a long history here," festival organiser Ada Elliott told BBC Radio Ulster's Your Place and Mine programme."Rathfriland is a spectacular area. We're very proud of it and that's why we want to celebrate it."Historians through the years have speculated on whether Patrick Brontë's Irish roots might have influenced his daughter's writing, and even whether they might have had Irish accents.County Down celebrates those links.A signposted Brontë interpretive trail runs for 10 miles from an interpretive centre around Rathfriland and its surrounds, allowing visitors to drive through the area and imagine how the windswept Mournes might have influenced the father of girls whose writing was mystical, passionate and wild.But local historian Uel Wright believes more could be done."If you come here you cannot fail to see Brontë signs everywhere," he told BBC News NI. "Roads, homeland, library, nursery, steakhouse - all Brontë."Despite the wave of enthusiasm that led to those celebrations in the 1990s, the stone cottage where Patrick Brontë was born lies in ruins.Mr Wright hopes public money can be used to restore it and celebrate the link."My theory is that unless there's another generation of interest and enthusiasm to keep the Irish Brontë heritage alive, we're going to lose something very important."Mr Wright's great-great-uncle William Wright wrote a book on the Brontës in Ireland.Mr Wright believes those stories were based in oral history, in which his ancestor had a great interest, and he will examine them at a talk on Sunday in the schoolhouse where Patrick Brontë taught."The whole Irish part of the story has gone out of fashion but with the upsurge of interest in oral history let's say - this is what we have in Ireland," he says."Let's celebrate it."Later on Sunday author Martina Devlin, who has written a novel based on Charlotte Brontë's honeymoon in County Offaly, will speak in the original church where he preached before leaving Ireland in 1802.The Rath Literary Festival started on Friday and runs until Sunday. It has been organised by the Rathfriland Women's Institute, Rathfriland Regeneration and Hilltown Community Association and will feature music and a one-woman show imagining the sisters in the modern day, by Pauline Vallance.Poets will read poems inspired by 19th Century women caught up in the criminal justice and mental health systems, and a walking tour will tell the stories of famous Rathfriland residents down the years.The festival was the brainchild of Margot Groves, who said: "We are delighted to be bringing such a wealth of talent to Rathfriland. There is something for everyone to enjoy no matter which genre they prefer."And did the Brontë sisters have Irish accents?"It wouldn't be surprising," says Uel Wright."Patrick never made great pretensions with his accent."I don't suppose we'll ever really know but it wouldn't be beyond the realms of possibility." (Nalina Eggert)
The sheer historical scope of Writers Revealed might initially seem a daunting prospect for visitors to this unprecedented exhibition at HOTA. Covering six centuries, it presents manuscripts, letters, illustrations and rare editions from many of the most influential authors in English literature.All pieces are taken from the British Library and the National Portrait Gallery, London. Among the items on display is a manuscript from the 16th-century poet Thomas Wyatt (the oldest piece in the exhibition), a portrait of Shakespeare believed to be the only one painted in his lifetime, and Jane Austen’s handwritten notes about her 1814 novel Mansfield Park. The extraordinary artefacts keep coming in an exhibition that was several years in the making.“I’m particularly excited to see the handwritten draft for Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, shown alongside the iconic portrait of the author by George Charles Beresford,” says Yarmila Alfonzetti, who oversaw the organisation of the exhibition at HOTA. “The handwritten manuscript for Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë is paired with a portrait of the Brontë sisters which was long thought to be lost, but was found folded on top of a wardrobe.” (Barnaby Smith)
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte“This is my favourite book of all time. It follows a young woman with a sad, loveless past as she becomes the governess to the ward of a saturnine, brooding rich man with a secret that blights his life. In Jane, he finds love and relief from his torture. But his secret is exposed on their wedding day and a heartbroken Jane has to leave him.“This is a book with everything: a relatable heroine, an imperfectly perfect hero, a love rival, triumph over adversity – even a little of the supernatural. And of course, that sublime happy ending.” (Anna Bonet)
The Bronté Sisters UK's new video explores the restored Brontë Birthplace in Thornton. A room-by-room tour of the modest house where Charlotte, Emily, Anne, and Branwell Brontë were born, now transformed into a community space and museum.
Uel WrighAn afternoon of two fascinating Brontë talks. Local historian Uel Wright will take us through the story of the Brontës in Ireland . This will be followed by novelist and author Martina Devlin's talk on The Bronte Family with particular reference to Charlotte.Uel WrightBorn in the townland of Finnard, Uel attended Newry Grammar School before studying Amenity Horticulture for three years at Askham Bryan College in York, graduating in 1974. He joined the N.I. Housing Executive where he had a forty-two-year career in Landscape and Open Space Management, retiring in 2016.Uel rekindled a love for Literature in 1990 studying two evenings per week at Queens University Belfast, taking all modules in Literature and Philosophy graduating with a Hons. Degree in Humanities in1998.A keen genealogist, Uel in conjunction with an American cousin has published four family histories and a history of Ryans Presbyterian Church. Articles on the life of his ancestor Dr William Wright have been published in the Journal of the Bronte Society and The Presbyterian Historical Society.Uel lives with his wife June in Banbridge, Co. Down.Martina DevlinMartina Devlin is an author and newspaper columnist. She has written nine novels, two non-fiction books, plays and a collection of short stories. Her latest novel, Charlotte, explores Charlotte Brontë’s Irish connections. Other novels include The House Where It Happened about the 1711 Islandmagee witchcraft trial.Prizes include the Royal Society of Literature’s V.S. Pritchett Prize and a Hennessy Literary Award, and she has been shortlisted three times for the Irish Book Awards. Martina writes a weekly current affairs column for the Irish Independent for which she has been named National Newspapers of Ireland commentator of the year, among other journalism prizes. She holds a PhD in literary practice from Trinity College Dublin.
